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I've been asking around, and people have been very helpful. But I still haven't decided.

He is my situation: On Thursday Apr 10, I will have about 850 dollars to spend on a pc. However it is bought/built, it has to be put together/shipped in my room by Apr 16. (I'm going to a lan party, and I am sick of having to use my shitty pc.)

Anyone have any suggestions as to parts to buy, and where to buy them? It will basically be a gaming pc. As for CDROM, I am going to go with a DVDROM instead. And, a shitty video card for right now because I'll buy a better one later. A motherboard is what I need help with most on. If all else fails, I'm going to Azzo PC and try to bargain with them, or fuck it, I'll get a dell. Thanks.

there is only 1 stop to make when buying computer parts. That would be http://www.pricewatch.com. They categorize lots and lots of websites and the prices they have for various parts, and allow you to see who sells those parts for the least cash. It is at pricewatch that I found out that http://www.pcboost.com was selling 512MB PC2100 DDR memory card for a mere 45 bucks. No shipping and handling. That's the cheapest price for the most good ram you can find anywhere.

do you need a hard drive? moniter? cd-rom? Or can you just swap those old parts out of your current system? If you can do that then you could get that stuff i listed for about $650 easy!!! If you need a HD you can get a WD 80gb hard drive for about $90 so that would still be $740 and leave you with some extra cash to burn. Maybe on a sweet sound card or something (the mobo comes with onboard sound).*shrug*

850 in'st alot to spend on a computer.... But if you got a bunch of parts you can swap it can be done, specially if you don't need the newest equipment on the net. I'd also look at http://www.mwave.com I got my 2 120 gig drives from there, no problems and was happy with them, their usually cheaper then alot of online retailers as well. so i'd give them a look. http://www.cdw.com has alot of high end network equipment which you may want to look at, mabye not buy, but give you an idea. Otherwise i know that dell has alot of specials on machines everyonce and a while, it won't be as customized as building your own machine, but it'll be easier so i'd go price out a system there, they should even be able to get it shiped and to you by said date

haha, AlienWare systems are so nice. But they're fuckin expensive, you can't get anything for 850. The cheapest thing I saw was around 2200. Your best bet is to do a custom build from stuff found around pricewatch.com, and like jon said, check compatibility. I wouldn't waste your time looking elsewhere if you want the best system you can get for 850.

I was at dell a while back dicking around, priced a computer out at $103,000 aprox. But oh, it was perdy ::drools:: it had something like 8 processors, and 32 gig of ram or something along those lines, needless to say, it was massivly over excessive for anything i would need now or most ever. I want one

Yeah, Dell has been alternating deals online between a 700 dollar (600 after rebate) and an 850 dollar (700 after rebate) computer, with free shit that they take off slowly during the week. By the end of the week, all you get is free shipping. Then it changes to the other deal.

I don't have parts I can switch, except a keyboard and mouse I already have but there is a 20 dollar kb and m set that I like better. The reason is that I share this computer and I wanna buy my own.

You guys have been really helpful. My cousin bought everything in his system off of http://www.newegg.com and told me some great prices he found on there. On http://www.resellerreviews.com or something like that, newegg had all good reviews, but I didn't check out other sites' reviews.

The main problem I see with ordering online (which is the only way I would go with building my own computer) is shipping taking longer than I have, or screwing up with compatibility like jon said, or the shipping pushing it over my limit.

I could just stomach some and go to the lan with a shitty computer, knowing that in five or six more weeks i could buy an alienware computer, which would rule. As they say on http://www.lotl.cc/humor/lanpeople.php about guys with AW boxes, " He'll brag about the fact that he spent 6 or 7 grand on it, and others will criticize him for spending a ridiculous amount on a flashy designer computer that would cost half as much if you bought it anywhere else, when deep down inside, you know you want one too."

I'm not very good with hardware, which is why I asked for help. I am definately going to check out the sites you guys suggested.

that quote is almost true. I wouldn't want an alienware computer for that kind of price - even if I had the money. There's something about building your own computer, and knowing that at any time you may swap out a part or two to make it that much more kick ass. Many people who want a faster computer starts looking into buying a new computer. In my case, if I wanted faster than 1.8 gigahertz, all I have to do is buy that supa fast 3.0 gigahertz AMD I see at pricewatch for 552 bucks, and plug it in. Or for something more cost effective, I could buy a 2.5 for 173. Shoot, before installing my 1.5 gigs of ram and second harddrive, my computer only cost me 480 bucks. Course, that doesn't include monitor, speakers, and other peripherals.

So i say go with somethign a little more customizded rather then a alienware one. Then just buy the parts on your own, you'll be much happier with it in the long run because it will be your own creation.

By the way does anybody know where i can obtain an old fashing electric chair switch, you know the really big ones that look something like a big y

I personally don't care to have the case modded out, especially if I'm going to have to pay for it. To me, what matters is on the inside (heh, so I guess it's true...). Seriously though, people can scoff at a boring grey case, but if you save 100 bucks on it and were able to put it towards a better graphics card...

I decided that at first I am going to have a shitty sound card and video card because later i will buy a Radeon 9800 Pro and the Soundblaster Extigy with some bitchin' speakers.

I don't care what case I have, but eventually I would buy a better one. All that matters at first is that it has enough slots for drives, and isn't shaped like a schlong.

As for HD, a 30 gig would do me fine, but later on I know I would go with an 80 gig. I really don't need more than 40 though.

I'm going to Azzo Computers on friday to try and work out a deal, hopefully they will be able to do what I want. Or, I could order everything online and hope it ships in time. If I do that, I will be really pissed if I am missing one important part the day I need it, the lan party day.

Tiger direct has good prices BUT they overcharge on shipping... I reccommend http://www.outpost.com their owned by Fry's Electronic's and thats a local store here, fuckin rules, kinda like Incredible Universe if you've ever seen one (they went out when I was a wee lad)...

I ended up going with newegg.com. I ordered 538 dollars in stuff (including the 15 dollars on shipping) last thursday and I will order the 338 dollars (including shipping) of stuff left. I did this to save money on shipping, since I need everything by a certain date. With regular shipping and no rush processing, I get stuff estimated at thursday the next week. I only had enough money to get the first set of parts then, so I did that and reg. shipping. I will order the rest on rush processing and overnight shipping, giving me plenty of time to set it up and customize.

I should mod out my case. I could invite all of my friends over and show them just how j33t I am because I added a cool window and a sweet red and black color scheme. Everyone will be impressed by the badass fin on the top that lowers wind resistance. My computer is 9 years old, but if I add a bunch of useless shit to the outside, no one could mistake me for anything but a connoisseur.

Hey now. Come on, some people spend money on stupid things. I think if you do a job like graphic design, you could mod your case and it makes your environment more productive and creative. Or sometimes I get a crazy urge to take something apart and rebuild it. Granted, I don't even get the 2nd part done correctly, but I can see the fascination with modding. Also, the smartest thing to do if you have friends (unlike me). Mod your system, make it look l33to, then bring your friends over and when they see it, offer to do the same thing or whatever they want for cheap (really enough for you to pay for materials and still get some good money out of it...hehe).I agree, its pretty ridiculous in some cases (no pun intended), but to each their own.